The invention relates to a lock casing to be installed in a door or the like.
A lock casing to be installed in a door or the like may include a front plate which is attached to the door at its edge and a follower element which is turnable in the lock casing about an operating axis by means of an operating device, such as a key operated locking mechanism. The location of the operating axis depends on the position of the operating device.
Lock standards prescribe, for example, the manner in which the locking mechanism should be fastened to the lock casing, including the distance of the operating axis from the front plate of the lock casing. In fact, the distance of the operating axis from the front plate of the lock may vary quite substantially in the different lock standards. In order to meet the different standards with respect to distance of the operating axis from the front plate, several different versions of a lock casing are needed. The lock standards also prescribe mechanical characteristics of the locking mechanisms. The different standards with respect to the mechanical characteristics of the locking mechanism influence the operation and shaping of the force transmitting means located in the lock casing, so that different casing versions may be needed to provide the different force transmitting means. Hence the number of different lock casings needed in all may be rather great, which increases the manufacturing costs, the number of the items that must be held in inventory and, thus, the value of the inventory.
An aim of the invention is to provide a lock casing which avoids the drawbacks mentioned. A further aim of the invention is to provide a lock casing which avoids the drawbacks mentioned above and which can utilize operating principles corresponding to those of the bolt disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,053 and which is provided with solenoid operated dead locking means.